social distancing recreation

Most of what I do doesn't demand me to be around people, except to get household necessities like groceries. I write, which is solitary. I work in a small office where most of what I do is online, except for a few tasks that require me to make short visits to the office for an hour or two each week and do the rest at home. (Thank goodness this stuff came after our conference in February!)

And my favorite form of recreation is solitary:

It was a beautiful spring day. Although the snow is mostly gone, the ground is still saturated with water. The surface is drying out, but there is plenty of slippery or muddy footing. Nevertheless, I had a pretty nice day with Buddy out in the middle of nowhere. The closest neighbor is a mile away out here. I love it. He needed the exercise, and I needed the outdoors and horse time.

I ended the day covered in horse hair--full on shedding season now--after trimming hooves or at least the front hooves. Hind hooves can wait; my back can only take so much. One pair of hooves was enough for today. I was also tired after a long ride on Buddy with his little ass friend Jewel running alongside us.

As you can see, I prefer my dressage tack, even when checking cows. Every western saddle, even my special order saddle, is just plain uncomfortable for me. I am henceforth taking the title of Dressage Cowgirl. I can cowgirl in a dressage saddle. Buddy and I managed to help get a cow back into her pen that decided an open gate was an invitation to explore. And it's full-on calving season. So many cute little baby calves--three newborns when we were out riding today, and we didn't even ride through the whole herd.

I can't not take care of my horse. He gets food and water with my sister's horses, but he does need me to take care of other needs, like those hooves. Next up are spring shots.

first day back in the saddle

Spring is here. It means I can get back in the saddle. It feels like forever since I sat on my horse, and it has been about six months, half a year, so it's pretty darn close to forever in horseperson years.

I had a nice day with Buddy yesterday. Although the ground was squishy and slippery, I was able to ride at a walk. As is typical for Buddy, he doesn't miss a beat. Six months is the same as six days for him. We were right back where we left off.

He's still a shaggy yeti and the grass isn't growing green yet, but we enjoyed our time together. You can't see the wet ground or hear the squish from every step, but it's there. At least it isn't snow covered anymore.

The Destruction of Walls... ready to go!

After more than I expected for the final round of edits on THE DESTRUCTION OF WALLS, it's finally done. So much better! I had a super clear head with this round and was coming up with new ideas on the spot to tweak the story with clearer directions for some of the characters.

I had been dealing with some mild depression since about the middle of last summer that would come and go with fuzzy headedness and finally found the right supplements to fix some of that. I hate anti-depressants because they just make it harder for me to think, which just makes me more depressed and kills my creativity; they don't actually fix the underlying problem but just mask it. I found the underlying issues and treated those with what I know and am doing much better than I would with any SSRI out there.

Anyway, it's allowed me to think more clearly, sleep more soundly, and write with more ideas, or at least edit... since I figured this all out while editing TDOW. I feel almost like my old self, if only I'd avoid the occasional treat. Sugar and caffeine are not my friends, as much as I'd like them to be :(

But, that's just a warning to others out there. Every situation is different; I've had to spend the last five
years figuring out what supplements helps me in what way, but I can say that for sleep, B6 and NAC (N-Acetyl-Cysteine) at night are the best sleep meds ever... at least for me. And--wow!--does refreshing sleep ever make a difference!

I've come up with better ideas for tweaking the series and made notes for the upcoming books I've planned. I'm a quarter done with the writing stage, which means I have a lot left to write, but it's so much fun. I hope readers enjoy reading it as much as I like writing it. (I've said it before but will say it again, because I'm really excited about it right now.)

So, I just finished final edits on TDOW and have uploaded it. You'll soon have the opportunity to read a sample. This was one exciting story with lots of intrigue and action and revelations. I love figuring out how stuff works, so I also included some technical details. The characters all shine in this at their best. They really came together as a coherent team, at last.

Once I've finished writing the first draft of Starfire Angels: Forgotten Worlds Book 7, I'll list the pre-order for Book 6, Disposition of Dreams. And then I should also have a title for #7 and a cover.

Stay tuned for updates!